Iran
crisis poses fresh test for divided EU
Already
strained by Russia’s war and managing relations with Donald Trump, the EU is
now scrambling to respond to a conflict where it has even less leverage.
March 2,
2026 4:00 am CET
By
Sebastian Starcevic and Gerardo Fortuna
BRUSSELS
― Ursula von der Leyen will on Monday chair an emergency meeting of European
commissioners as the conflict with Iran deepens and after the EU’s 27 foreign
ministers differed over a joint statement.
As
missiles rained across the Middle East and with fears of a threat to Cyprus,
the EU pivoted to crisis mode, calling emergency Sunday sessions and planning a
series of extraordinary meetings. It faces the difficult task of pulling
together a coherent foreign policy response for a region where it doesn’t have
huge leverage while confronting challenges on several fronts at home and
abroad.
With the
leaders of the so-called E3 — France, Germany and the U.K. — issuing a far
tougher statement Sunday night than the EU managed just hours earlier, the
episode underscores a broader pattern: As global crises multiply, from Russia’s
war in Ukraine to renewed transatlantic strains under U.S. President Donald
Trump, the bloc is struggling to speak with one voice.
The EU’s
priority is to “ensure the protection of civilians and the de-escalation of the
situation as well as to ensure that the Iranian people are able to express
their will ― while maintaining unwavering support for Ukraine and continuing
pressure on Russia,” Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže told POLITICO.
Commission
President von der Leyen’s emergency security-focused meeting of officials in
Brussels on Monday coincides with a scheduled gathering of Europe ministers in
Cyprus.
It comes
after two days of intense U.S.-Israeli-led bombing of Iranian cities designed
to overthrow the regime. The airstrikes have killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei and triggered Tehran to launch counterattacks across the Middle
East.
“The risk
of an attack on Cyprus,” the closest EU country to the region, was “high,”
according to a European Commission official briefed on the situation who was
granted anonymity, like others in this article, because the issue is so
sensitive.
Cyprus,
also at the helm of the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, called an
Integrated Political Crisis Response meeting for Tuesday, bringing together the
bloc’s institutions and member countries to game out internal security, trade
flows and energy supplies. It’s a format that’s previously been convened over
Covid, the migration crisis and the outbreak of war in Ukraine.
A meeting
of EU top diplomats with Gulf foreign ministers is also being organized this
week, two officials with knowledge of the discussions told POLITICO.
“There
has to be emergency meetings left, right and center,” a senior diplomat from
the region told POLITICO, underscoring the urgency for the EU to quickly adopt
a strong position. “This is a turning point for the Middle East, Europe and the
U.S.”
International
law
Emmanuel
Macron, Friedrich Merz and Keir Starmer, the leaders of France, Germany and the
U.K., said on Sunday night they would “take steps to defend our interests and
those of our allies in the region, potentially through enabling necessary and
proportionate defensive action to destroy Iran’s capability to fire missiles
and drones at their source.” They will “work together with the U.S. and allies
in the region on this matter.”
Shortly
before that, the EU published a carefully balanced statement after the 27
foreign ministers held a two-and-a-half-hour video call. They called for “full
respect of international law,” urged Iran to stop developing its missile
program, stressed the need to restore regional security and expressed support
for the “fundamental freedoms” of the Iranian people.
A major
sticking point during the call of foreign ministers was whether the
“international law” part of the statement could be seen as criticism of Trump
and the Israeli government, four European diplomats either present or briefed
on the meeting said.
On that
point, European leaders have been publicly split.
Spain’s
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez condemned the U.S.-Israeli strikes, warning they
risked bringing about a “more uncertain and hostile international order.” But
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Sunday it wasn’t “the time to lecture our
partners and allies,” adding “we share many of their goals without being able
to actually achieve them ourselves.”
In the
end, all countries approved the joint statement, with the EU saying it would
take “all necessary steps” to protect their citizens who have been caught up in
the conflict.
Earlier
on Sunday, ambassadors from the bloc’s governments were unable to reach a
consensus on the statement, three European diplomats aware of the negotiations
told POLITICO, with two saying Hungary refused to sign off on it. The Hungarian
delegation in Brussels declined to comment.
Budapest
instead used the talks to air its grievances on the unrelated matter of the
EU’s support for Ukraine, bringing up a broken pipeline transporting Russian
oil to Central Europe. Hungary has for weeks accused Ukraine of keeping it
offline, blocking a €90 billion loan to Kyiv as a result.
Furious
assault
Explosions
have been erupting across the Middle East since Saturday, when the U.S. and
Israel’s strikes on Tehran killed the supreme leader and several senior Iranian
officials.
Iran hit
back with a furious assault on U.S. military bases in the region, including in
Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab
Emirates.
In Dubai,
a luxury hotel was struck and went up in flames, while in the Bahraini capital,
a missile hit a U.S. Navy base, sending up thick plumes of black smoke.
Three
American soldiers were killed in the wave of attacks. Trump said Sunday he
expects the U.S. operation against Iran to continue for about four weeks “or
less.”
EU
ambassadors on Sunday focused on how the crisis would affect the safety of
Europeans in the region, as well as the implications for the bloc if the
fighting continues, according to an EU diplomat.
Among the
issues discussed was the impact on air and maritime traffic, particularly if
the key Strait of Hormuz is closed. The strait, which is partly in Iranian
territorial waters, is a key shipping lane through which 20 percent of the
world’s oil passes.
Earlier,
Cyprus was forced to hose down reports that Tehran had targeted it with
missiles on Sunday after the U.K.’s Defence Secretary John Healey told Sky News
that “we had two missiles fired in the direction of Cyprus.”
Zoya
Sheftalovich, Nicholas Vinocur and Gabriel Gavin contributed to this article.
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